this morning marilyn tavenner head of the division responsible for healthcare.gov rollout became the first obama administration official to testify before congress. until today tavenner had largely avoided scrutiny from republicans who have instead preferred to train their fire on her boss kathleen sebelius. >> i understand you're not publicly releasing those numbers but i'm asking, do you have any idea of on a weekly basis how many people enrolled in how do you not know how many people have enrolled? >> we'll have those numbers available mid november. >> while the sniping over the website persists in committee, republican leadership is out with a new message. we're over the website. >> the problem with obama care isn't just the website, it's the whole law. >> the bottom line is the

problems with obama care run deeper than just the website. >> the problems go well beyond a flopped website. >> it is clear obama care and flaws are much more than the website. the website is the tip of the iceberg. >> this week republicans smelled blood in president obama's claim no americans would be kicked off their existing plans. >> let me repeat this. nothing in our plan requires you to change what you have. >> and yet as nbc reports a detailed look at the legislation shows that the administration knew that more than 40 to 67% of those in the individual market, or some percentage of 14 million americans, would not be able to keep their existing plans. never mind the fact the new plans will offer more comprehensive coverage and sometimes at a lower price tag, this is clearly the next front in a war on the nation's health care law. >> we know this morning is the president knew that these

letters were coming. in the president knew these letters were coming and still indicated that you could keep your health care plan if you liked it, now, that raises some serious questions about the sales job of obama care. >> no one is more keenly aware of the complicated sales job of obama care than, well, president obama. in an interview with fusion last night, the president tried to highlight the big picture. better health care, easier to get. >> analysis has shown that if you're between 18 and 34 right now, about half of the people can get high-quality health care for less than $50 a month, less than your cell phone bill, less than your cable bill. about 70% can get it for less than $100 a month. >> joining me washington bureau chief for "huffington post" ryan grim, editor and publisher katarina and washington

editor-at-large for the atlantic steve clemens. i dare say there's a lot of nuance here. i asked you guys when you sat down here, what is an unforced error. it seems what is happening now is a series of unforced errors. could the president not have gone out years ago, months ago and said, look, for the majority of americans, your plans aren't going to change. for some americans your plans will change but they are going to get better and possibly even cheaper, was that not politically possible? >> a mislead. >> what he was was dumb and illogical. he was also telling people at the exact same time that the law would require their plans to get better. in other words, different. >> right. >> so you can't in one breath say you will have the same plan and in the next breath say you'll have a different plan. in a better plan both things

can't be true. they will argue a lot of people will lose these plans. they will say these plans were crappy anyway. they had terribly high deductibles. low monthly cost misleading because of the deductible. didn't cover a lot of stuff, lifetime caps. now a better plan, cheaper, deductible but not the same plan. >> katrina, this combined with website glitches, at the root of the law is something good. parts of it are being executed well. but for people looking for an excuse to not like the law, for people scared about government overreach, for republicans in need of fresh talking points, it's a problem, i think. >> i think there's a lot of political and media hysteria disproportionate to the problems. there's a lot of demagoguing, a lot of intentional misinformation and misleading. if i can go deep structural. >> go deep structural. >> the deep structural is if we had a political system that worked and wasn't polluted by money we would have medicare for

all, which works. we would have a country in which governors wouldn't refuse medicaid expansion as 22 states have denying coverage to 3.5 million low in come women. more state exchanges which were working. michael lynn had an interesting piece at roosevelt institute's next new deal, at the heart of it republicans want to indict liberalism and that form of governance and governing. you could look at jerry-rigged aca obama care, if we had a system that worked we wouldn't have neo-liberal market patching of private insurance programs but we would have a kind of 21st century new deal project which is medicare for all which has worked and works in industrialized countries and could work here if, if, if -- >> those if statements are important ones. we also have the political reality here where every week seems to bring a new storm on steve. i will say i think that this is

a really important point. josh barrow makes it. it is underdiscussed. i don't think we have the quote, so please follow along with me, america. he writes, i have seen a vast outpouring of conservative sympathy for young, healthy, prosperous people whose health plans are going up. what about tens of millions of americans who currently lack health insurance and are about to get access to available, affordable coverage. whis the conservative sympathy for people who would be worse off if the law doesn't go forward. >> what katrina and josh are both getting at, the basic social contract among americans is deeply flawed and not connecting in the right ways. while i think i agree with ryan that the president and his messaging were poor, the fundamental issue is you don't have one neighbor worrying about the health concerns and considerations of other neighbors. if you have people with a very basic low level form of health insurance and that's going to be kicked up, it's very hard.

we've been so negligent in the health care arena so long and we've convinced americans this fundamentally wasn't part of the broad social contract, at least a lot of them, or we wouldn't have this debate. that's a huge error. now we're going forward. we don't have a one size fits all. people have a diverse set of choices. there's a lot of flexibility. the private sector continues to have lots of room for innovation and competition and yet we're going to move into a system where everyone can basically have health insurance and mandated to have health insurance. i'm sympathetic with both sides of the equation. i understand how hard it is for the white house to come in when you're not talking about a single payer system much like katrina was and you're talking about a mix mash of other possibilities for consumers that this is inevitably going to happen. >> strategically it seems like the white house thought, okay, look. this thing is too nuanced, a lot of complication involved. we're going to wait until the

enrollment period begins, until people are experiencing and interfacing with it and seeing its benefits. then we can kind of clear up this stipulation that nobody is going to lose their pre-existing insurance. >> i think that's exactly right. i think they kind of fooled themselves into believing that. at the same time i think republicans are walking into a trap here. what are they complaining about right now that people can't get access to coverage and that coverage is too expensive. >> now they want more people covered and a cheaper rate. >> you want to expand coverage and you want prices to go down. there's an easy way to do that. there's a complicated, dumb way to do it with neo-liberal market approach but another easy way to do it. both involve more governing. >> that's holding them account able. >> what he says is important. what you see is a little of sniping about what's out there. you don't see republicans coming forward with anything they want to offer as their own plan. >> someone wrote today

republican party is a post policy party. you can claim ryan has a budget. i don't think it's a budget. >> paul ryan. >> they have offered no alternative. no alternative to the aca health obama care. so i think they need to be held deeply account able. it is just insane they have gone from fighting to shut down the government in a default, holding, defunding, gutting obama care and now they are claiming they want all of this. i think it's important to look at the states by the way. what you were saying about premiums falling. in new york city premiums have fallen by some 50%. in states like kentucky. kentucky of. >> a democratic governor who decided to work with federal government. >> kentucky will be an interesting petri dish for a lot of reasons. lets hope mitch mcconnell gets beat by a tea partier. >> we're not. >> my husband's state, new deal time, decades ago, a democratic state. lets see how government looks in a state where the state exchange works. i think ryan is right and you're right that the administration

was rightly banking on this reform threading and weaving itself into people's lives. then social security also took decades. social security came under attack -- >> prescription health program. the prescription health program was a disaster when it happened. it took a long time. we're going to continue to see tweaks of the process over and over again, extensions there, delays to help people understand what's going on. part of the healthy process, a good part. >> let me say one thing. i think it's a good part of the process if it actually happens. there's a political bet happening right now, ryan. it's not a terribly profound thing to point out. republicans are betting -- i think brian boiler makes the same point, republicans are betting middle class predominantly male, predominantly white folks kicked off these catastrophic plans are going to be more vocal and more organized and more outraged than

all the poor people getting helped by this law, who tend to be voiceless in the political spectrum. they think in 2014 and 2016 that will benefit them. >> i think they are probably right in the short-term. but in the long-term, you now have these people who are upset about the price of health care and blaming government about it. that means they are going to turn to the governments for a solution. the solution there is either more heavily subsidize these exchanges or expand access to medicare. so they are going to walk right into that. all of a sudden you're going to have a bigger constituency for something like medicare for all. >> i think there have been moments during these hearings where you actually see democrats speak the truth. this is one. lets take a listen. >> what are you going to do about the approximately 17 million children with pre-existing conditions who can no longer be denied health insurance coverage? you want to go back? you want to say you are no

longer covered any longer. you going to tell the parents of those kids? which one of you is going to stand up and tell the parents of those children the game is over, sorry, that was just a phase. >> will the gentleman yield? >> yes, i will. >> that's it, right? it's about the parents of those children standing up. it's about the poor people that have been denied. it's about people with pre-existing conditions denied coverage. some huge part of this is anecdotal. some part of anecdotes will kick in until people can sign up for stuff on the website. >> this may sound 30,000 feet. for a long time we've been seeing our economy tilt towards a certain highly privileged class that gets everything while the broad middle class and lower middle class is further and further left behind. this is the first major reversal of that trend. it's not just about kids with pre-existing conditions, it's about reestablishing a different social contract with american families and workers across a

broad spectrum that begins to connect different ends of american society. that's why it's so important defining legacy building step for the administration. too bad it's been such a horrible rollout. it really is not just about kids and the poor. it's about the american middle class that's going to continue to see their jobs under stress, continue to see the kinds of things shored up, quality of life they had come undone. i think it's very, very important to remember this isn't just about small segments of american society, even though that was a very passionate and compelling comment from the congressman. >> it's very important i think to lead with children. no, it has great political impact. steve is right. our country now is very low in terms of social mobility, upward mobile, part of the american dream. part of the reform, health care reform was to allow people to be able to move to jobs they might not otherwise consider. so much was dependent on did it

have health care. years ago, all of you will remember this, u.s. automakers at one point toyed with single payer medicare or health care reform because of the competitiveness. the u.s. economy is less competitive because of the unenlightened business class, unwillingness to understand you need to build a partnership across society if you're going to be competitive in a global economy. i think on many levels children, pre-existing conditions, women should be speaking up. that's an important part of this health care plan. across the board but a broad, general social economic message. >> it is worth noting that three-quarter of medical bankruptcies happen to people who have insurance. to say the system doesn't need reform broadly speaking is to ignore the problem entirely. we have to take a break. when we come back, ruins from the shutdown raw, next round of fiscal fights. we will talk budget battles and

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the government has not yet been reopened for two weeks but the battle lines are already being drawn for the next showdown. house and senate budget committees scheduled to meet tomorrow. according to terms of october 17th deal to fund the federal government committees have until december 13th for a long-term bundle and january 15th to come up with a deal, any deal, to prevent another shutdown and avoid more automatic sequester

cuts. perhaps unsurprisingly the latest quest for elusive grand bargain may be falling apart. speaking to "politico" house budget committee chair, america's workout king, we're showing that picture of him working out, threw ice water telling "politico" we need to focus on achievable goals. if we spend our time faulking about a grand bargain we will fall far short. that will require each party compromising their core principles. in this divided government we're not going to do that. in an interview with nevada radio knpr harry reid identified the main obstacle to such a deal. >> they have their mind-set on doing nothing, nothing more on revenue. until they get off that kick, there's not going to be grand bargain, there's not going to be a small bargain. >> behind the scenes, a small deal, call it a mini bargain, seems to be developing. asked if revenue would be required to unwind sequestration cuts, the president simply

responded no. oklahoma congressman tom cole, one of the last of the remaining republican moderates also signaled a willingness to give some ground. >> both sides would like to deal with the sequester and we're willing to put more revenue on the table to do that. >> joining us is congressional reporter for "politico" jake sherman. jake, it's not a grand bargain, a mini bargain, can we look forward to that? >> what cole said is right. both sides want to take care of the sequester. how they take care of it is a big question. behind the scenes what republican leadership says is basically this, this all depends on paul ryan, what he wants to do. does he want to be president in does he want to chair ways and means or does he want to be speaker. what drives him will drive this process. i think we have to also keep in mind this thing has fallen apart how many times since 2010? they have tried this in 2011, '12, and '13. there's a reason these two sides that obama and boehner can't come to an agreement.

those obstacles, which you kind of described at the top, haven't disappeared. the dynamics haven't really changed. in fact, what ryan is saying they have kind of gotten worse. they are going to aim for a grand bargain. >> paul ryan wants to keep room on the playing field in case he wants to run for president. on this note america's workout king was dealt a little blow who said at one point about ryan's chances in 2013, sometimes you've got to recognize that someone else on your team has a better chance, paul ryan, and your role is to be blocker. you don't always have to be a quarterback. good linemen are hard to find. jake, sitting aside the metaphors of ryan being a quarterback or lineman, paul ryan has put the kibosh on any major deal since he came to prominence, voted against simpson-bowles, boehner, single handedly blew up a bipartisan

senate deal. why is there any reason to believe at this point he would do anything to help move along a bargain of any kind? >> because he's in the driver's seat and his hands are on this process in a way they previously haven't been. he's not burdened by a presidential election coming up in 2014, because there is no presidential election in 2014. there's some reason to believe he has a little more room to wiggle. listen, the best outcome out of this situation, a lot of people think, is to develop a number to fund the government through 2014 and maybe shift some money around so sequestration doesn't hit as hard. obviously there's another round of sequestration coming in january. if they can mess with that and get it into better shape so it doesn't hit as deeply at $967 billion it's going to cut pretty deep into the government, that would be a success. we're not talking about social security reform or medicare reform or medicaid reform even

tax reform. those things are not going to happen for the reasons we just described. getting a number to fund through 2014 and avoiding kind of the harsh realities of sequestration would be good goals according to republicans and even some democrats. >> you know, ryan, i kind of think getting rid of sequestration, even if it means no revenue, might be a good deal. the assumption has always been republicans would be hurt so badly by defense cuts we can extract something. rand paul doesn't care about the defense cuts. why don't we jettison some of the crap, speaking about defense cuts. he wants more defense cuts. the idea this is somehow leveraged is maybe not that accurate. if you can unwind sequestration or put in a better bargain, if you will, and not get revenue, it still might be a good deal for democrats at this point. >> not a good bargain for the tea party. if you want to look for a sign of how much less power the tea party has now, look at what tom cole said, both sides won. he said more revenue, higher

taxes, if they can do away with sequester, which is more spending. that's a republican saying, okay, we'll take higher taxes and more spending. the tea party is looking like it will get railroaded on this because a lot of republicans do care about pentagon spending. $25 billion is coming out of the pentagon next year and they are already carping about the $50 billion that hit this year. so they think they need $50 billion back. they don't want to give up another 25. so you're right. democrats have a lot of leverage. that's what harry reid was saying recently. they feel like they have leverage. they can even get tacks out of this. >> i think i was arguing a counter-point. the idea, steve, of how much sway the tea party has at this point, i think the jury is still out. you have tom cole, who has been a moderate basically all along but forced at specific moments during the shutdown and after the fact to go along with fractious strategy than he would have preferred. i wonder just where the

republican party will find its center. >> let me put an uncomfortable truth out there. it's not just the tea party driving this process. fiscal conservatives in the democratic party and republican party that look at the fact that fiscal solvency really matters to them, whether that's the right policy to pursue is a different question. i think they are looking at the sequester as something that's achieving cuts. it's working away. it's eating away at what they see the largesse of government. what i find interesting is i can't find a leader in congress that says we shouldn't pass some way to make it flexible. we should be able to give the department of defense or office of management and budget flexibility how to apply across accounts. it's a sharp bludgeon that cuts across. no one says they are against it. yet every time that language gets in, it mysteriously disappears. >> i think that's because there's a terror that if you accept you can maybe agree/compromise on something. for republicans that means revenues and for democrats that

means slashing social safety net. >> i do think there are people in congress, for example, the progressive caucus in the house has put forward statements on opposing sequestration just straight out and a budget that is about not how much to cut but investment. seems to me again deep structural. the problem is we're at a moment in the country with a faltering economy where 95% of the in come gain since the recession top 1%. if we want to be a secure, healthy, competitive nation, we should be talking about best plan, putting people back to work. joblessness not deficits is the greatest crisis. that doesn't seem to be part of the beltway discussion except for those that don't have power. the tea party, i think you're right, has lost a lot of its power, which is the beginning of possibility. >> you wanted to get in on that last point about revenue versus entitlement programs, social

safety net, earned benefit programs, whatever, however you want to characterize them. i'll let you go ahead. >> we have to keep in mind, it matters not at all what tom cole, john boehner says, mitch mcconnell says, because nobody listen toss them. i don't care if tom cole is moderate or whatever he is, or john boehner, like he says, we're not going to shut down the government. the pocket of conservatives running the house republican conference don't listen to what their leadership says. tom cole could want to raise tax toss 50% and that doesn't really make a difference. >> you're saying no lessons have been learned since the shutdown. the orientation of power has shifted even further toward the right towards the tea party. >> i think it has. i think some people have learned lessons. you have to remember republican leadership likes to downplay this. these are just 30, 40 people off the reservation, too conservative. that doesn't matter. you need 218 votes to pass something. if john boehner wants to keep

his speakership, he has to take that into consideration. i can hear ryan sighing there. >> look who provided the 218. >> i'm with you. >> not the tea party. >> that is only after john boehner let his tea partiers shut down the government and bring the u.s. economy to the verge of catastrophe. >> correct. >> jake, one last question. tom coburn, do people listen to what he has to say. he said the other day, toif say this, there is no comedy with harry reid. i think he's an absolute a hole. for those of us who watch washington politics are sort of sad and see these as gray, dark days, that seems like a new low. is that par for the course? >> i can't speak of what most think of harry reid or tom coburn's relationship with him but i'll be safe and say there's a deep level of distrust which is evident in those kbhents. >> i think he's an absolute a

hole. "politico's" jake sherman. thanks for your time. coming up as communities mark one-year anniversary of superstorm sandy, there are many signs of recovery along the east coast, but there are plenty of structural, financial and emotional damage that remains. we will go live to one of the hardest-hit areas coming up next. let bing find the photos you've been gathering in the cloud, the music you've been collecting on your device, and all the places you've been dreaming about from the web. search for anything and everything beautifully and simply with just a single swipe or type, only with bing smart search on your windows tablet, pc, or surface. that's the new windows: one experience for everything in your life. she's always been able it's just her way.day. but your erectile dysfunction - that could be a question of blood flow. cialis tadalafil for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment's right. you can be more confident in your ability to be ready. and the same cialis is the only daily ed tablet approved

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destroying 366,000 homes sending 14 foot storm surges into manhattan and claiming at least 159 lives. a year later 46,000 people are still without their homes in new york and new jersey. the costello family of seven is still living out of a staten island hotel. they are hopping between hotels and shelters and tells new york magazine it will be nice to get back to normal life but is there any such thing as normal life. katy tur in sea bright, new jersey. what does it look like there a year later? >> it certainly doesn't look great. it looks better. i've been covering these areas for the past year. we came to sea bright a couple days after the storm. it was one of the worst areas out there. this was a men's clothing store. it was completely condemned. had to be torn down like a lot of buildings. the waterline is behind me. you can see it on this green

building. it was 8 feet high in sea bright, three blocks wide. ocean is here, the river is here and the water came crashing in like a thunderclap in on this town. all of the businesses were destroyed here. now the mayor says 70% of the people and homes are back. 400 families are still displaced. you're seeing that a lot up and down the jersey shore and new york. people displaced from their homes, trying to figure out a way to either tear down their homes still standing, gutted the way they were after the storm or rebuilding empty lots. unfortunately it's scattered. the progress in some areas is great. in other areas could be right next door, it's completely stagnant. we do have businesses open down here. sea bright is emblem atic of wht you're seeing up and down the shore. >> thanks. campaign gubernatorial candidate and hard line

conservative ken cuccinelli tried to claim reproductive choice and scientific choices could lead to eugenics. he did that by invoking gattica. >> dna plays the primary role -- >> we'll discuss grand old problems with choice and texas new abortion ruling next on "now."

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down a restrictive part of the abortion law deeming it unconstitutional. the judge appointed by george w. bush blocked texas from enforcing restriction that would have required doctors performing abortions to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. had the requirement gone into effect it could force clinics to close. the act is without a rational basis, the judge wrote and places a substantial obstacle in the path of a woman seeking an abortion. "new york times" hailed the judge's decision as a victory for reproductive rights. if it was a victory, it was a lopsided one. in the judge's ruling he also let stand a provision that restricts choice by requiring doctors to use a specific drug protocol and medication, the medication-induced abortions. a protocol doctors and medical experts and american college of object descriptions and

gynecologists updated. texas announced they would appeal the decision and would go to the staunchly conservative fifth court of appeals. according to "the new york times" even the judge acknowledged the limits of his ruling. quote, at the end of the day, these issues are going to be decided definitively not by this court but either the circuit or supreme court of the united states. melanie, ceo of the houston-based planned parenthood center for choice. welcome to the show, melanie, and thanks for joining us. >> thank you, alex, for having me. >> lets talk about judge yakel's decision. what are the practical effects of this for women in texas and nationally. we know nine other states including texas have passed laws requiring doctors performing abortion to have admitting privileges. does this change the dynamic nationally at all? >> well, you know, this ruling really is a victory for our patients. it's a victory for women, to

pass laws that restrict the very private, personal health care decisions women make in personal consultation with their health care decisions. not to rain on a victory but it is worth noting a few moments ago texas attorney general greg abbott asked for an appeals court to issue an order to reinstate the restriction, which they struck down on monday. the litigation on this continues. i think as judge yaekel made mention of in his decision, the ultimate end for this is the supreme court. if it is the supreme court, how optimistic are you that this may be upheld or struck down? >> well, you know, we knew that the state would appeal. we are in this fight for the long run, because women are families are depending on us. we would hope that both the appellate court and if it gets to the supreme court, that all

of those judges and justices would look at more than 40 years of supreme court rulings that uphold a woman's right to access safe, legal abortion. >> katrina, melanie makes a very important point, which is the judicial precedent here. i think it's amazing a conservative judge appointed by george w. bush strikes this law down saying the acts admitting privileges are without a rational basis. >> lets not forget president nixon understood the value of family planning. have you a republican party today which has lost all sight of that. >> women have suffrage, i think. >> this republican party may not know. that's an important point because women will vote. i moderated a panel with a young latina that runs at texas state university. she spoke of how in these last months especially since wendy davis and her filibuster, scores and scores of young women, young people have mobilized to reclaim

their rights and fight this fierce anti-choice politics. we heard about the long run. this is going to be the long run fight. i hope wendy davis wins. she may not win but what she's doing in the run for governor is building an infrastructure of new voters, voters who understand civilizational aspect of pro-choice politics. there's danger in the precedent. there's also stupidity in a state like texas or cash-strapped states taking these cases and wasting taxpayers' money pragmatically when the money could be invested in education, in all kinds of benefits. >> not to mention stripping funding for planned parenthood and taking away reproductive health services for hundreds of thousands of low in come women in texas. to the other part of the decision, the part the judge let stand, the provision about having to use a certain medical protocol. according to an institute

one-quarter before nine weeks are medication abortions. that would seem to have serious repercussions for the women of texas. >> yes. we were disappointed by that part of the ruling, but by and large this is still a victory for women. medication abortion in the evidence-based protocol is a very safe, very effective way for women to end an early pregnancy. we're disappointed by that part of the ruling. the most important part of the ruling is that which prrveserve access to safe, legal borings across texas. >> let me ask you a question as a woman in tech. when these decisions are handed down at the same time there's a 20-week ban enacted i believe starting today that clinics now have to meet the requirements of ambulatory surgical centers. these provisions that seem designed to make a very difficult choice that much harder. do the women of texas, sort of, are they coalescing around these

decisions and say this can't happen. we don't deserve to be treated like this. our sisters and mothers and daughters should not be treated like this. >> that is absolutely right. the women of texas are paying attention. the women of texas have watched as governor rick perry and other texas politicians have forced the shutdown of 76 women's health centers around the state in the last two years, slashed hundreds of thousands of dollars of family planning funding, and created really dangerous consequences for real women and women are paying attention. >> melanie from planned parenthood center for choice in houston tech texas. thanks, melanie. thanks for your time. >> thank you. coming up, russian president vladimir putin kind, a sort, a changes course on gay athletes at next year's olympics. we'll discuss just ahead. [ male announcer ] pepcid® presents: the burns family dinner. why would i take one pepcid® when i could take tums® throughout the day when my heartburn comes back? 'cause you only have to take one...

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russia does not have the strongest track record when it comes to lgtb issues and that is a vast, vast understatement. with the soichi olympics starting in 100 days, president vladimir putin appears to be taking a new approach. the details on that coming up next.

russian president vladimir putin, this guy, we have the graphic, this guy, that guy, may have just recently signed homophobic law banning gay propaganda in the country and allowing police officers to arrest foreign nationals they suspect of being homosexual or pro gay. now 100 days until the winter olympics in russia, putin is trying to turn a page kind of. yesterday putin told reporters we will make sure we do

everything athletes and guests feel comfortable regardless of their race, ethnicity, sexual orientation. i would like to underline that. a lot of people have reacted to consternation given laws passed in russia. >> as they showed. at the same time, you have to understand it's not putin, not the guy on horse back, if i have to see that guy on horseback. >> i can't get enough. >> maybe society, maybe television. three-fourths of russian society does not support gay rights. russian orthodox church has become politics. this country shouldn't boycott soichi. athletes should go. there should be wearing of rainbow colors. there should be protests, more speech. i was struck about russia's lgtb sports federation is going to hold games after soichi. let us support efforts as we rightly criticizes not only

putin but other countries around the world where lgtb rights are under siege. >> steve, you were saying you have friends in russia. >> i have a lot of gay friends in russia. they are engaged in gay activities. they continue to organize parades, marches, gay rights just mike my friends in texas do. rick perry not only with women in the last segment but if you look at rick perry's campaign material it's remarkable similar to the statements out of vladimir putin. we have problems in this country as well. i agree with katrina, the deal is to be engayed with russia, understand it's going through its own identity and soul searching issues. fundamentally i hope every athlete on the american team and all these other teams do engage in propaganda, do engage in showing the gay flag, because i think that the world needs to see russia as it is. but that is there's a mix of things going there. it's good for russians to look at something they are being graded on by the rest of the

world. >> remember the 1936 olympics where jesse owens won those medals. it was such a meaningful moment for the world, african-americans and repudiation of everything hitler had been espousing to have gay athletes perform and win silver, bronze medals, to even be there is important for russia as the population sort of begins to think about what they really think about lgtb rights. >> this will ultimately when we look back be a seminal moment in the global march for gay rights. what's happening in the united states is a global phenomenon. you're seeing in countries from columbia, france, britain, southeast asia, everywhere there are gay rights movements cropping up, rooted in their own country's traditions. it's a dramatic transformation and russia won't be will u.n. to it. the conflict you'll see in russia over this will then be seen by the entire world. that will continue to further these movements.

the kind of thing as you talk about it, it wins. freedom marches generally marches forward when given a fair debate. >> universe is long but bends towards justice. >> if given an open conversation. >> dialogue, engagement as it were. thank you to ryan, katrina and steve. that is all for "now." i'll see you tomorrow at noon eastern. "andrea mitchell reports" is coming up next. (announcer) at scottrade, our clients trade and invest exactly how they want. with scottrade's online banking, i get one view of my bank and brokerage accounts with one login... to easily move my money when i need to. plus, when i call my local scottrade office, i can talk to someone who knows how i trade. because i don't trade like everybody. i trade like me. i'm with scottrade. (announcer) scottrade-proud to be ranked "best overall client experience."

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dad, he's gonna wreck the car! (dad) he's not gonna wreck the car. (dad) no fighting in the road, please. (dad) put your blinker on. (son) you didn't even give me a chance! (dad) ok. (mom vo) we got the new subaru because nothing could break our old one. (dad) ok. (son) what the heck? let go of my seat! (mom vo) i hope the same goes for my husband. (dad) you guys are doing a great job. seriously. (announcer) love a car that lasts. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. right now on "andrea mitchell reports," oversold, it was the health care promise heard over and over again from president obama. >> if you like your health care plan, you keep your health care plan. >> now nbc news has learned millions of people who buy individual policies that do not offer enough benefits have to switch to a new plan. why didn't the white house make that clear. secretary kathleen sebelius will have to face the music in congress tomorrow. >> if the president knew that

these letters were coming and still indicated that you could keep your health care plan if you liked it, now, that rhyses serious questions about the sales job of obama care. >> spy stoppers, head of nsa will face the house intelligence committee this hour as outrage grows over american spying on friendly foreign leaders across europe. now at home they are calling for an end to the eavesdropping. >> the issue of eavesdropping, really unseemly to do this, whether phone taps listening into conversations or anything else. and unless intelligence authorities can show americans were made safe by this kind of eavesdropping, and i don't think they can, it ought to end right now. >> hurricane sandy, a history making event coming ashore and changing the map of the coastline in some places. >> the comeback coast.